I'm No Hero, I'm Just Keeping a Promise
by Crafty Wolf
Summary: Following her death, she was summoned by a dying wizard who only had one request. Taking the second life as payment, she heard the man out and thus began a journey to keep her promise. Iconic isekai trends aside, this is just something I wrote off the top of my head after finishing the anime. Whether you like it or not, I hope you enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I don't know if I'll update past what I had written, as I had only been writing off the top of my head. Thus, it will be missing some polish all things considered. Eventually does link to the Shield Hero world, and additions will likely be put in as I feel fit, crossover-like or not.

**Disclaimer: **World building up and characters are mine up to the point when things from Shield Hero are mentioned and added upon. Although, that much is likely already obvious.

Shots were fired into the bank ceiling, all inside crouching to the ground and then rounded up. A group of guys heading towards the bank vault as another two force everyone into being a hostage. I was unlucky enough to have been stopping by to get my first paycheck out of savings. Normally, I'd have gotten here earlier and wouldn't be in this mess, but my mother had been out drinking and hanging out with her friends, again, and all I was able to do is bike my way here. She doesn't particularly care too much about me as she is a step-mother, only paying the rent for us, but even so, she's hardly ever home. Back to the main issue here, the police arrive within a few minutes but had been alerted to the fact that these criminals had hostages. Furthermore, my luck as usual, they had told the police via megaphone, "If you don't leave in the next ten minutes, a hostage will be killed every fifteen minutes."

By this point, everyone in the room at the floor had gasped. I for one, sighed, mumbling, "Talk about unfortunate."

One of the masked men turned to me, "What was that miss, talking? Yeah, not flying; actually, hey boys, how about we make this one our first example?" The other guys turn to him with a nod and smirk I'm sure if I could see.

Grunting and thinking, _"Police aren't going to leave, that's a given, they'll try to force something within those ten minutes or play it off, either way I'm basically fucked for being first." _I look at the man who suggested me as tribute, his hand was loose on a pistol, for the most part, he had been distracted one of the female hostages. However, my time had been ticking, at least ten minutes had passed and police were still outside shouting for them to open up with their hands up, idiots. Sighing once more as they begin to finish tying everyone up, _"To hell with it, as soon as I'm tied, I'm done, making a break for it is all I got left." _The man who'd been distracted was still off guard, so I take the opportunity to jump at him, gunning for his armed hand. Thankfully, I had been able to pry it off him in the surprise, however, this was followed by an immediate shout to his buddies. Wide-eyed as they began to point their guns at me, I shot the man who yelled out, point blank, it hit true and he fell. Not too long after, within seconds, I was also fired at, and I'm not tanking a full-auto spray, so I also fall, bleeding erratically from the new holes. In attempt to go out with one more, I fire one more shot from the pistol, grazing the shoulder of one, missing due the blurring my vision and lost grip onto the gun.

Shallowly glancing at the pool of blood forming under me and sound of gasps from the other hostages, I can only imagine the look of myself right now. Platinum hair tainted by blood, and more than a few holes into my white, likely, now red tee. One of a few final thoughts come to mind, _"I wouldn't call it a good run, but the few things I did enjoy, I'll hold on to that. Supernatural shit to hell, but it'd be nice at a time like this." _With that in mind, I draw my last breath. Time of death, 4:23 p.m.

My eyes open, although I question why, I can't say I'm not ecstatic to be alive, but the more I think about it, the more questions pop up. Glancing around, I deem it an old stone building, a few bookshelves here and there, along with some flasks along a table, but the thing that's grabbing my attention the most, is an old man with a long gray beard and a bald head. However, the man was in a chair, with an ever apparent raspy breathing situation, he appears more than injured.

The man speaks out, albeit quietly, "I have summoned yo-" abruptly coughing, "-you with my remaining magical energy, I tried telling the kingdom of the of the signs of something bigger bestowing upon the world, and something bad. The king tried to silence me to prevent public uproar, but his units are nowhere near the strength they used to be, I fear things are coming to an end in this land-" he coughs more, some blood along with it, "I'm afraid I won't last much longer, I'm not sure as to what I even summoned, a monster, a human, I don't know. However, I don't have the time to question this, all I request, get stronger, and prepare to fight off this threat. I'm aware of how selfish it is, but I don't want to see the people of the kingdom die, ple-"

I nodded, "I believe I get the gist of it, I'll help, but even I'm not sure what I can and can't do, nor how this world works. At the least, tell me how long I have, I take it I'm not bound to your magic either? If not, call giving me a second chance at life your payment."

The presumed wizard sighs with a smile, "Thank you. Your summons into the world is of your own free will now, need not worry coming down with me. If I had to guess, you have a few months or so before anything happens, to be honest, all I know is it's strong, it's too early to tell anything else. With this said, I believe it's time I go, I leave anything here to you, young one."

I watch the man die of his wounds, mumbling, "Seems even now, a life for a life is my motto at the moment. I won't put your efforts to waste, may as well do something for the man who brought me here. Although, this king sounds corrupt, I'll see what I can do."

Taking a look around, I browse the bookshelves, thankful to the fact I could understand a few of them, but others were written in other languages or magical symbols. I scratch my head as to what to do with all this stuff, reluctantly deciding it'd be best to occupy the relatively small stone house for the time being. First order of business however, find a shovel so I can properly bury this guy.

Unable to find one inside, I head outside with his body in tow, finding a small shack next to the building containing a couple tools, a pickaxe and shovel. Grabbing the shovel, I take my time to make the hole large enough, daylight passing by quickly. About two hours in or so, I can fit him into the hole, and after setting him in, I cover it over with dirt once more. Looking to the grave, "I didn't get a name, but may you rest in piece." Viewing the setting sun as I head in, I can only think that of the day before my father died, a car crash, I only heard about it by the time it was too late, coming home from work I believe. After that, it was never the same for me personally, my step-mother taking all the funds he left me in his will, and basically anything else she saw that she wanted. She wasn't exactly heartbroken, I saw it in how she acted, she never did care much but he loved her nonetheless. I was broken for a long time, only coming out to eat and use the bathroom, school more or less was on and off for me at that point. Eventually getting a job and now leading to this point, I didn't think much of the other world, but maybe I can change things, even if only for myself here.

After reminiscing, I take a seat into where the former had been, pondering. Putting my hand up to my cheek, "Alright, so I said I'd help him, but how exactly am I going to go about that? It doesn't help I don't even know what I am, I don't know what's happening in this world, and I'm all alone. Frustrating, but life is the most difficult game, I'll have to figure it out one way or another." Surprised I hadn't noticed it earlier, I see a dot in the corner of my view, just an outline, transparent in the center. Focusing on it, a menu or something of that nature pops up in my view, making me jump a little. Curiously, I see my name, and focusing on it, more information pops up, although pretty minimal. The things listed are among; name, race, and level (party only).

Releasing a thankful sigh, "At the least, this is something I can understand, it appears that this is just how the world functions, pain seems real and work feels laborious so far. I suppose the lack of a health bar or mana bar means that everyone has a universal base stat, maybe dependent on race, but this is good, this means strategy is what rules here. Taking another guess, levels are more superficial, a means of showing how much someone has done over any benefits, bragging rights maybe? Either way, this helps a lot, I need to get used to this as soon as possible. I never thought to be thankful for playing all the games I did back on that world. Seems some things did carry over though, I still talk to myself a ton."

Getting up from the chair, I notice a small staircase tucked into the corner, following it, I see it lead into a small room with a bed and a few candles lit next to it atop a shelf. A small reflective surface also mounted onto the shelf, I look at myself and am pretty content, my figure had stayed relatively the same, although my ears were definitely longer and pointed, poking through my platinum hair. Looking away from the mirror object, I glance at the bed. Taking into account the from what looks to be two moons, it's still pretty dark, so I crawl into bed, calling it a day, it smelled of old wood but for what it was, it was also fairly comfortable.

Waking up in a cold sweat, I groggily climb out of bed at the sound of knocking on a door. Mumbling, "So, it wasn't a dream. Who could be at the door this early, I hadn't seen any settlements nearby, they must've when out of their way to get here." Heading up the staircase, I walk to the door, peeking through a crack, seeing two armored men, likely knights from the looks of it.

One shouts at the door, "Open up Wizard, we know your still in there! If you don't, we'll gladly force ourselves in."

Sighing, I open the door and is met with a surprised look, "Wizard? I don't know who you're talking about, it's just me, take a look if you want but there's nothing here."

The other knight pulls out a paper, "I was sure this place was owned by the local lord, I'm sorry miss. You don't mind if we check to make sure though?"

I shrug, "Go for it, just try not to touch too much, I like to keep things organized." The men nod and head in, scanning the rooms with ease considering how small the place was.

Back at the door, the knight on the left apologizes, "Alright, all clear. If we had woken you, I'm sorry." Beginning to walk away along the barely visible path, I can barely hear the two, likely due to my ears now, the right knight quietly saying, "Let's go back to the lord's manor, there's something off about that place, that was surely the wizard's home, the tax collector specifically mentioned how it was weird an old man lived this far out on his own. Let's check it out tomorrow after asking around some more, he's a criminal by kings orders, if we don't find him, there'll be issues."

Closing the door after hearing the final sentence, I grunt, "I can never catch a break, can I? I should pack anything I can now." Scrounging around, I find a medium sized adventure bag and a small waistband with a few pockets for potions if I had to guess, based on the size. The brown cloth dress I had come here in looking a little better with the accessories, almost like a belt. The barrel of rolled up papers next to the desk looked like a good spot to find a map of the area so I walk over to it and spread them along the tabletop, hoping to find one that marked this location. Alas, none had done so, a majority of the papers showing drawings of locations, but nothing more, luckily I did find a map, although it seemed to be just a local one, showing the nearest few cities and villages. Regarding the two bookshelves along the wall, I come to the conclusion that it's likely that the soldiers might torch the house to officially determine the Wizard gone and dead, or at a cover up for it should they not be able to find him. Setting the map into my bag, I pick up one of the books I could understand, "It'd be a shame to see all these books become fuel for a fire, hell, I don't even know if any of these are rare or not. Wait, I do recall seeing my race as what," pulling up the information once more, "Slime Elf? I got the elf part, but where does the slime part come in?" Noticing the book on the ground next to the chair I had been sitting in, I pick it up and read the open page, _"Soul Warp Summon: Based on the amount of mana available to the caster, a being will be summoned to your location; one half being determined by the mana available and the other half being the closest race affinity to the warped soul. The summon will be permanent and disconnected from the caster upon completion at the cost of some of the caster's soul. The being summoned thus gaining its own sentience and life apart the caster."_

Closing the book, "Talk about desperate for something to take up his ambition, risking part of his own soul even. Since I know this now, he mustn't have had much mana left if all he summoned was a slime half, a gamble for the other half no less. Seeing as I'm part slime, if I've learned anything from games, they have decent self regeneration and the ability to dissolve and store things, maybe I can take these books with me if I figure out what abilities I do have. An obvious one first," I stick out my hand, "Most race specific skills are often easy to activate, it's worth a shot," I chant at the books direction, **"Absorb."** To my dismay, slime had shot out from my hand and onto the books, the rows disappearing one by one. Focusing in on the corner of my view once more, I finally see the skill's inventory window pop up, showing all the books, but only as storage, it seems like that's all the ability was good for, saying nothing more about them. Although, by this time, a more pressing thought was at hand, the fact that I was already midday.

Deciding it is best to leave while there's still daylight, I walk out and close the door behind me, heading the opposite direction of those knights, I'd rather not run into them anytime soon. Picking up the pace to a medium jog, I mentally thank my physique for carrying over with me, heading over a hill, showing a better view of things, particularly a beat down path along the less steep area of the hill, a potential city barely visible on the horizon. Wanting to arrive before nightfall, I keep a steady pace along the path.

Upon my arrival, I reach a large wall and gate guarded by around four knights, two on each side. Likely noticing my presence, they all turn to me as dusk falls. One knight, stands out over the others, accompanied by red dye across the chestplate and helmet, likely a rank differential. Walking in front of the other three, he speaks up, "It's awfully late miss, you shouldn't be out so late, unarmed no less."

I point back towards the hill in the distance, now much smaller from here, "I had been jogging here since around the middle of the day, I needed a change of scenery to say the least."

Some of the knights behind him a little wide-eyed, the red marked one speaking up once more, "That's quite far, by foot even more so, although even with great stamina, you must be tired? Allow us to take you inside at the least."

I nod, unable to argue, "That would be well appreciated. Know where I can get any water or something to drink once I'm inside?"

One of the knights shakes his head, "Yes, just take a left once we lift the gate and there should be a tavern with all sorts of drinks."

I smile at the man, "I see, thank you."

The dyed knight tosses me a coin, "That silver coin should be enough to buy you a meal, drink, and room for the night, call it a gift for impressing me by getting here on foot, most arrive by horse or carriage nowadays."

Catching the coin with ease, "Again, thank you, I haven't exactly eaten yet, maybe we'll meet again." That said, we had walked up to the gate and it was opened by one of the knights, waving the tower at the top to open it. Waving the group away as I went inside, I took a left towards the tavern one of the knights recommended, an inn right next to it. After walking into the bar, I take a seat towards the corner as to be left alone, thinking, _"I've been too social already, talk about draining. I'm surprised the knights, either groups I've met, haven't noticed the other half of my race, normally that kind of thing shows in some type of aura, maybe it's just hidden in this world, you are what you look like sort of thing."_ Lost in my own thoughts, I hadn't noticed the waiter had already arrived, an elf, from the looks of it. I wave my arms, "Sorry, I hadn't noticed you showed up right away. Talk about good service. Can I get some cold water and a hot meal, anything you'd recommend?" She took out a small notepad, _"I guess some things don't change no matter where you go." _

She spoke up in reply, "No, no, it's alright, I just don't see many other elves show up around here. I'd recommend the grilled lizard tail, it's a community favorite, and a water as well?" I nod and she tallies it up, "That'll be 10 copper for the lizard tail and 1 copper for the water."

I hand the elf waitress the silver coin, "Can you exchange this for me?"

She nods, "That'll leave you with 189 copper pieces," handing me the exchanged value, via magic, unsurprisingly. I store it away into my bag as the elf walks away towards the presumed kitchen.

I look around at all the lively people, listening in for anything interesting as I wait for my food, mumbling, "Seems a silver piece was worth a lot more than I thought, talk about saving my ass knight, I didn't have shit." Not too long after the thought had passed, the waitress arrived with the food and water, which I graciously thank her for and begin eating. The outside of the tail is crunchy, but the inside is well cooked and seasoned, it's a great meal, I can see why it's a favorite. The water on top of this only made it all the more refreshing. Finishing up, I get up and begin to head out, tipping the waitress a few coppers for the good service. With that said and done, I head to the inn and rent a room for tonight, 20 per night, so I give the clerk just enough for tonight as I don't know how long I plan on staying yet. To say the least, the bed and environment is a lot more comfortable this time around, so I quickly fall asleep thinking about selling a few things I took with me from the house.

The morning encroaches through the window panes, and I hop out of the bed with my gear, asking the clerk down the stairs, "Thanks for the room, do you know where the shops are by chance?"

The clerk looks up from a book with a bored look, "The center of the city has a multitude of shops, it's hard to miss, it's literally a big circle."

I nod and walk out into the streets, following a few carriages of people and goods to the city center, and to say the least the clerk wasn't joking it's huge. Looking at the signs, I search for a magical goods dealer or something of the sort. These drawings were by a mage, there's a possibility something was hidden in the paper I can't detect or see yet, may as well ask around. Heading inside a shop called, "_The Glass Key." _I quickly associate it with magic as books lined some areas, orbs were on a few tables, flasks among them as well, overall matching the aesthetic at least. The person at the counter was a human from the looks of it, wearing dark purple robes and short pointed hat with glasses.

She smiled over and asked simply, "Hello, is there anything I can help you with? If I had to guess it has to do with those papers you're holding?"

I walk up and set them across the counter, "Yes, actually, I don't know what appraising them costs, but I'd like to see if there's any hidden magical signatures in these drawings."

She merchant mage pulled a magic circle over it, completely intrigued at the pictures, saying, "Each item appraised is 5 copper each, but I'll tell you where these are located free of charge. I'm surprised though, you weren't wrong, these are littered with magic, highlighting all sorts of things. Where'd you get them?"

I rubbed the back of my head, "Long story short, someone I was acquainted with gave them to me, since there's five, I'll give you the 25 coppers now. Although, if you could teach me how to actually read these signatures, it'd save me a lot of trouble, I'd pay for it of course."

She chuckles, taking the coins, "New to magic I take it, I can teach you a few spells to help reveal magic within something else. That'll be around 50 copper though. Analysis magic is quite popular with merchants and the like."

I cough up the extra 50 pieces, "Fine, fine, just tell me how it's done."

She lifts her hand up, motioning for me to do the same, "Looks like you're an elf, so this should come easy to you. Repeat after me, it's a simple chant, but it does the job, **Analysis: Appraisal**. After that, you can just use the chant, **Analysis: View**, which would allow to view something you or someone else had appraised." I follow her instructions, met with the same result, a small magic circle hovering in my hand over the drawings, revealing the locations and such she had been talking about.

She takes a quill out from under the counter, writing onto each drawing, "The names of these locations are in fairly dangerous areas, should you ever venture there, be careful, I wrote down what I've heard them called and where the general area is, but I only know so much about it. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

I shake my head but give a final question, "Would using this magic allow me to read something I previously couldn't due to it being in a different language or text format?"

She thinks for a moment, "Sometimes, yes. However, it'd depend on how good your magic is, naturally and training it to be stronger. Should you do that, it'll translate something into another format you do understand to an extent. Books are particularly draining however, as there's a lot to digest."

I turn towards the door, the newly marked maps inside my bag, "Alright, thanks for the information, see you around." Mentally I tally up how much I have left, and it was looking worse with each place I went, _"I only have 114 copper coins left, I should invest in a weapon and maybe some light armor if I can afford it." _

Meandering through the crowds, I finally find a sign with an anvil and hammer, almost surely to be a local blacksmith. Heading inside of it, a variety of people could be seen browsing the wares; from armor to weapons and other accessories. The man at the counter was short and extremely bulky, standing in front of a door with a curtain over it, a dwarf if I had to guess. Deciding it'd be best to see what kind of recommendations he'd have based on the amount of money I had left, I ask, "Is there any decent weapons I could buy with 100 or so copper coins?"

He looks over to a small barrel of blades and daggers, "There isn't much that I can offer for that budget, I'm surprised an elf no less is asking for a blade though, why not stick to your safe and dishonorable magic?"

I give him a look, feeling slightly offended, "I take it you like a fair fight with no magic involved?" He grunts as I walk over to the barrel. Picking through the blades, I finally come to a short sword with a decent blade, quite similar to a Roman gladius in fact. Grabbing it and setting it on the dwarf's counter, "How much is this?"

He picks it up and looks down the blade, "For an elf, you have a good eye for a blade, 78 coppers." I sigh, giving him the coins, in return, he gives me the blade and leather stealth.

Walking out I can only vent my annoyed thoughts aloud, "Even if the dwarven folk have issues with elves, least he could to is give me the time of day since I'm buying the wares, now I'm down to 36 coppers. May as well check the shop across from here, sounds like it's a clothing merchant from what I've overheard, and I could least do for an upgrade in my clothes."

Surely enough as I arrived into the shop's view, it was a clothing shop from the looks of it, dresses and adventure clothing in the window. Heading inside, I ask the human clerk, "What's the cheapest set of adventure clothing you have?"

He eyed me up and down, "Around 25 copper coins." He pulls out a pair of leather-like boots and wrist guards, the main piece of clothing being a green cloth, hooded possibly.

I eyed the gear as well, "Anywhere I can put it on?" He motions to a small corridor with a sheet over it. Following suit, I headed inside, closing it behind me, and once putting it on, I was surprised that it was still decently comfortable, albeit a little tight around the chest.

Walking back out in the new cloak and boots, I finish adjusting the wrist guards, setting the money on the table next to him, walking out.

He calls out just before I close the door, "If you intend on going out for a while, I'd recommend bringing a waterskin, I saw you didn't have one on you. It's only 5 copper." I sigh and walk back in, accepting the offer before walking out once more, left with 1 coin to spare.

Deciding I've had enough with shopping and it was still early in the morning, I walk back to the gate I entered from, reading a sign saying, "Southern Exit of Beabluff." Surprisingly, I'm met by the knights I had been greeted by the other day.

Walking up to the gate, I thank the dyed one, asking, "You mind opening the gate here?"

The man waves to the other knights, "Headed out already?"

I nod as the gate is opened, "Yeah, that coin helped, but I need to sustain myself and I have a mission of my own on top of that."

The knight follows me through, "Seems you're dead set on whatever it is, I wish you safe travels."

I headed off to the right, following a path I see wagons riding along, saying, "Thanks, maybe we'll run into each other again some time."

Following the path, I looked to my map, now knowing my location for once, and see a forest to the right, the path continuing along the left. Curious as to what is or isn't in the forests, I head towards the forest. Initially walking up the short few hills to the tree line, I don't see much besides the tall grass. Continuing to walk forward into the forest, I stop abruptly after my ears pick up some movement in some of the bushes. Drawing my sword, I prepare to find out whether or not I'll be able to work with it correctly.

Just then, a rabbit hops out a few meters in front of me, leaving me to release a big sigh. I mumbled to myself, "It's only a damn rabbit and you got that worked u-" gasping as a much larger animal leaps down from a tree, taking the rabbit out and looking at me with a snarl. The size of it around that of a large bear, but the build of a wolf. I back up slowly, watching it begin to pick up its meal the further back I got. As soon as the rabbit was completely inside its mouth, I broke for it, running full speed to the left, the animal running the other direction with a howl. I keep running, making multiple turns and crossing a small pool of water, not wanting to find out if it was calling it's friends.

Taking second to catch my breath, I fill my waterskin and sit for a moment. Looking around, I can't help but notice a great deal of plants that look harvestable, and old habits die hard I suppose, I end up gathering all the mushrooms, flowers, and anything hanging out in the open. Not wanting to risk picking up anything dangerous by hand, I use my race ability to gather the items. As soon as I felt done gathering for the time being, I couldn't help but think, _"I shouldn't make too much noise if I can help it. Not only that, but I'm completely lost now, maybe if I find a tall enough tree, I'll be able to see more."_

Wandering for a while, I finally find a tree that looks reasonable enough to climb, thankfully, it wasn't being difficult and I get to the top fairly easy. Checking around, I can't see much besides the plentiful amounts of trees but in the distance ahead of me, there looks to be a small clearing, though smoke appeared to be rising from the location. Having nowhere else to go, I began climbing down the tree, gunning it for the clearing. Luckily, I arrive there without anything wrong besides a few scratches from some of the branches along the way.

I jog close enough to the smoke, it rising from what seems to be a village, the sounds of shouting and weaponry clanking together from here. Curious as to what the culprit is, I run into the town and see groups of short green things armed with daggers and axes, along with rough hide and crude metal armors, almost definitely goblins. The village guard, only assisted by a few knights and the others just being men with leather and hide armor, equipped with the bare minimum. Blood is everywhere, more so on the human side, the goblins containing such a numbers advantage in this fight. I can't help but look on with one thought plaguing my mind, _"The world before this never equipped me for this, if I go there now, I'll surely die again." _I want to run, but for some reason my body won't let me turn away from the gore. I should help them, but I don't know how, I'd be a burden and end up killed. _"Wait. Just use your head for a damn minute. If there's a blacksmith, there's likely an oil barrel nearby to quench the weapons, a good place to start might be where the most smoke is. I find that oil, I could torch it into the horde of goblins that are beginning to surround the guards._

With a plan in mind, I sprint around the area away from the village and around to the back side, seeing just what I hoped to, the smith's workshop. Slowly walking onwards towards it, attempting to prevent any detection. Seeing a few barrels next to the forge, which was now out of control and spewing flames everywhere. I peek inside the container, and the smell of crude oil fills my nostrils, satisfied, I grab a stick and get a fire going on it and set it to the ground. I turn the barrel to its side, it is already beginning to leak, but I freeze up slightly, I try to put it aside, rolling the barrel along towards the goblin horde. Picking up the pace, I rush into the unknowing goblins, their screeching headed my direction likely able to be heard all through the area. Already so far in, I force myself to leave being afraid for my life to a later time, running as fast as I can back to the torch to light the oil trail.

Tripping along the way with torch in hand, a goblin tackles me, leaving me to flashbacks of when all the gunmen had been aiming directly at me. Gritting my teeth at the thought, I barely deflect the dagger to my left arm, still nicking it in the process. The stick was almost broken, but I took a chance and jammed the flaming end into the goblin's loud mouth, causing it to reel back in pain, choking on the stick as I pushed it further in. Eventually kicking it off, I grab the other end of the now broken stick, lighting the trail with a new flame from the forge.

Watching the fire flow along the oil slick, I unconsciously shout, "Get down!" Surely enough, as soon as the fire reached the barrel the horde of goblins were dead center in an explosion, all remaining ones being lit on fire from falling debris or finished off by the guards. Unaware of the goblin archers, I take a few arrows; two to the gut, and another to the shoulder as the guards finish them off. A few tears fall from my eyes, _"Again with the shots at my gut, eh?" _

Waking up in a rickety bed, I shoot up, still feeling the lingering pain in my shoulder and belly, although bandaged now. A young girl sitting close nearby saying, "I'm glad to see you're up, the village's lord would like to see you, can you walk?"

I swing my legs around and attempt to get up, it stings for a moment but overall, is manageable, "I take it the arrow was superficial? How long was I out?"

The human woman nods, "It was, and you were only out a day. The villages cleric gave you a pain numbing potion, so you shouldn't feel too bad."

I nodded, following her out, "So what does this lord want to say to me?"

She shakes her head, "I do not know, but I assume it has to due with your involvement in the goblin raid."

Upon arrival into the lord's small manor, I'm met with a maid that takes over for the other girl, leaving me to her. Following the maid up the stairs, I'm led into a large room with a desk and large chair, the maid motioning for me to sit in the cushioned couch of sorts. I take a seat with a slight grunt, the maid leaving shortly after.

The chair turns and a man around the age of his late 50's gives me a smile, "Ah, the woman who saved the village, the Elf of Flames, as some are dubbing you around here. I'm glad to finally have a chance to speak with you."

I disregard the name, although it's kind of cheesy, I focus on the matter at hand, "I'm here, what did you need of me village lord?"

He pulls out a bag of coins from the sound of it, "A thank you for saving the lives you did, no less putting yourself at risk for people you did not know. And please, call me Garion."

I state simply, "It wasn't just me, thank the soldiers that were holding the horde off before I arrived. They were the ones giving me enough time to do what I did."

He pushes the bag forward, "I insist, the village would've surely fallen and everyone along with it hadn't you done it. By chance, how did you do it anyway? Magic?"

I shake my head, "I may be an elf, but I don't know any magic like that yet. I used science to do that," walking up to the desktop, I continue, "And I won't argue if you insist on something like that," grabbing the coins and setting them inside my bag. I take a seat once more, awaiting any further conversation.

The man with short gray hair went on to say, "Science? I never would've thought, not many speak much of that topic with magic around as it is. Aside from the payment, there isn't anything else I had planned to discuss, so you're free to leave when you feel."

I nod, quickly asking, "How much is in the bag you gave me anyways?"

He waves his hand, "It was collective from the residents, many had noticed that you were injured after and wanted to pay you back somehow. Total, it's around 50 silver pieces."

My jaw drops slightly, "50?! I thought you could get a lot for one, this is very much appreciated. Also, could you tell me where I am exactly, I got lost in the forest south of here and I'd rather know what I'm getting into."

He chuckles as I pull out my map, pointing, "We're here, the village known as Ciburh, not many come through the forest, were you looking for something in particular?"

I shake my head, but remember the mage from the city mentioning on one of the maps that one of the locations was near this village. Pulling out that drawing I say, "Actually, yes," pointing to the stone door in the wall of what look to be ruins depicted in the drawing covered in vines and other greenery.

He looks on intrigued, "Yes, yes, I have seen it before, there's a local legend that there was once a man who sealed himself inside during the winter. He was said to have locked a powerful magic book with him. None have been able to get inside all these years, we get a lot of adventurers who've tried, but none had succeeded yet. I can send a knight or two with you to the area if you wish."

I nod, "Tell them to meet me tomorrow, by the main entrance, I'd like to rest up some more and browse around the shops that aren't destroyed. Is the tavern up still by chance?"

He laughs aloud, "Of all the things to survive, I'd say most are glad that was the building that stood, we're known for our strong liquor thanks to the local flowers. I'll arrange for the knights to meet you at dawn tomorrow, in the meantime, enjoy yourself." I walk out with a smile, following a maid down the stairs and towards the tavern.

Entering the bar, I take a seat in one of the stools, asking the man giving the drinks, "Anything you'd recommend?"

He finishes wiping out a mug, "Yes, the Elderflower Brew is quite popular," the bearded man quickly acknowledges who I am, continuing with, "I hadn't noticed, consider the drink on the house."

I watch him fill the cup with a nod in thanks, _"I actually haven't had liquor before, so let's see how it is." _Taking a sip of it, I can taste the flavor, it's quite bold, giving a natural vibe but a warming feeling once it reaches the belly. Satisfied with the initial taste, I finish the glass but suddenly feel tired, the pain of the wounds inching up a level, I suppose the potion's duration had final run out. Deciding to bail out on shopping, I look for the inn I had been kept in before going out.

Eventually finding it, I slowly walk to the front, asking for a room, which I'm given for half price. Taking a seat onto the bed, I lay back, hand over my abdomen, thinking back on what has already happened so far. A week hasn't even passed yet and so much has happened already. The thought doesn't stay long however, falling asleep before I even realize it.

Once again hopping up in a cold sweat, I can only see the fires from the other day, putting me on edge even though nothing was there. Sighing, I take a glance at the window, the dark pinks and oranges beginning to breach the horizon. Getting up and putting my boots on, I grudgingly waddle down the stairs, more so because I hate being up early. However, I have people waiting, so I walk out towards the village entrance and look for a pair of knights. Surely enough, Garion has kept his word, two men waiting along the pathway, talking from the looks of it.

As soon as they see me walking towards them, they stop and greet me, asking, "Are you ready?"

I motion for them to walk, "Lead the way, I'll follow close behind." That said, they headed onwards into the southern forest, following a shallow path, keeping small talk to themselves. While they did that, I gather anything that looks like it could be useful along the way.

About half an hour had passed, but stone was quickly noticeable ahead. Picking up the pace, I scanned around the broken down buildings, the ruins had been completely ransacked by this point, but it's still interesting to see how things were built at the time.

One of the knights speaks up, "Over here miss, the doorway is inside the side of this cliffside."

I jog over to the two knights pulling out my drawing of the door, comparing it, they matched almost identically. One thing I had that others didn't was the drawing, so I ask, "Can you cover me for a few minutes?"

They nod and I put my hand over the paper, chanting, **"Analysis: View." **The signatures left inscribed into the map showing up, the density of the inscription varying along certain stone bricks around the door. I looked up with a smirk, a puzzle, likely to keep anyone from just pressing each brick. The highlighted bricks become less dense the further out from the door, so I come to the conclusion that the door is set from lowest magic density to highest, in order to open it.

Glancing between the drawing and the real life depiction, I press down on each brick from my position until I reach the door. Looking up at the door, it is definitely larger up close, but my curiosity beats out the intimidating vibe, so I press the last brick and it falls inwards. I call out for the soldiers to group up around me, the ground shaking vigorously as the stone door falls into the ground. The knights themselves look on with awe, stunned, as none they had taken here before had figured it out.

Upon entering, one of the knights lit a torch, saying, "This place gives me a bad feeling."

I admit, "Something does feel ominous about it, but we're already this far in, right?" The other knight backs up my thoughts, pulling out his sword in case something jumps out. Following the tunnel into what looks to be a clearing, a few skeletons lie on the ground, looking to have been fighters of some type. However the one sitting on a stone, still left in place after all this time, was fully equipped in a lightweight armor and cloak, which was tattered and blackened at the edges, a dagger in the hilt of the skeleton's waist. Moreover, there was a book set on another rock close by, almost like a small pedestal.

Cautiously, I approached the book, the knights following close behind, as soon as I'm close enough, I say, "If I pick up this book, something is likely going to happen, whether it be a trap or an enemy, are you prepared to run for the exit? I'd rather not risk injuring anyone. I'll pull it on 3 once you guys are ready." They looked with a subtle fear in their eyes, nodding.

I take a deep breath and count down, "Alright, one," I begin reaching for the book, "two," my hand is almost completely around the book, "three!" I pull the book and the knights run towards the door, I begin to, but the skeletons begin to rise with shades of red in their eyes, one of them pulling my leg as I run through. Tripping, I dropped the book and look back at the skeleton who still had a firm grip. One of the knights run up to me, but grabs the book and runs away again, leaving me to the skeletons.

I look to the knights running in rage, "Oh piss off, people are as greedy as ever no matter what world." Pulling my short sword out of its sheath, I wail on the skeleton's hand, causing it to release my leg, but the others had already been up and began heading towards me. Hopping up, I ready my sword, _"Movies and games may not give me real life experience but, even they showed some of the basics. Just look for an opening and try to parry anything that's imminent."_

The first of the five skeletons swings a standard short sword similar to my own, dodging it, I swing my own towards it's head, the slow reacting mob almost tanking the hit, although it's head slowly tipped back and fell off. Surrounded by the other four, I can't make a break for the exit. Attempting to keep them from getting too close, I fling one of their allies swords at the closest one. The undead enemy hit it aside, but is left open for me to get a free strike, so I wait onto it's ribs, breaking a few and causing it to fall over. The next two skeletons are nearly on top of me, one aiming a slice at my chest, dropping to the ground, the skeleton hits its ally instead, killing it. Taking the opportunity given to me, I buckle the legs of the boned foe and quickly strike it with a downwards slash. The last skeleton nicks my side as I'm unable to dodge in time, it stung but it felt like a minor cut, regaining my footing, I kick it square in the chest, the sword flying out of its hand. Similarly, I slay it with a downwards slash as its on the ground. The easy blows had served their time, putting my other tactics to the test as the final skeleton rises, the one armored up with a dagger.

I sigh and ready my blade once more, "I have a feeling this'll be harder than the lackeys." The boss skeleton rushes in far quicker than the others, nicking my arm, _"It's fast." _

Attempting to adjust to its speed to read the next attack, I see it wind up with the dagger overhead. Assuming it to be a lunge attack, I wait for it to move the slightest before crouching and holding my sword out ahead of me, aimed head level. Thankfully, the skeleton actually had lunged, and right into my blade on top of that, however it only struck the chest, but it was stunned for a moment. I yanked my sword out of the ribs and slash at its chest as much as I can, staggering it back some more before it topples. The boned man tries to get up again but I kick it down again, jumping into its skull, effectively crushing it. Not wanting to waste time in retrieving the book I rightfully earned by this point I use my absorb skill to take anything the skeletons left, coincidentally upgrading my armor choice from the skeleton I just crushed. The faded green and black tattered cloak now trailing with me, my chest now protected by a light metal, although it showed a little much for cleavage, similarly with gauntlets and boots, now reaching up to my knees in the light armor. The cloak appearing to give a slight agility buff, I sprint through the path I had initially been taken upon.

A thought crashes into my head as I think back as to what would make them want to betray me, and I focus on their lips, one knight reading, _"Are you sure about this, I know gramps has said to pull through with it, but what if she doesn't even know how to get in?"_

The other appears to say, _"Don't worry about it, he said he'll give us a good pay, a gold piece to track the girl and kill her if she fails to open it, and should we get the book he said he'll up it to 5 pieces."_

The other knight sheepishly rubs his helmet, _"Ah, you're right, maybe we could have some fun with her before anything drastic though, she has a nice rack and pretty face, elves are said to be amazing in bed if you've heard."_

The other guy slaps his shoulder, _"Now, that is a good idea."_

Gritting my teeth, I sprint harder to catch up to the bastards, ditching me to die along with a full plot behind it, and dare say rape me along with that and toss me aside like a doll when they're done. They're in full armor, they can't have gotten too far within the past fifteen minutes. The knights I've run into have all caused me to second guess things, trust won't be so easy to get from me this point on. Even more than that, I scowl at the thought of that man Garion. However, I push the feeling aside as I begin to get a glimpse of the two knights, casually strolling along by this point. Thinking about this strategically, they have two longswords, full armor, and a number advantage, so I'll be forced to steal the book back some other way. I grin as I realize I could use my slime half for more than just inventory, aiming my arm up ahead and sending globs of slime in front of them, enough so to make them at least stop and focus on it, although it did cost a good chunk of my mana from the feel of it.

The knight pulls out his sword, "Ah, pitiful monsters, doesn't matter how many of you there are, you're in the way of our pay."

The other knight sets his bag down, the book inside, continuing, "Seems there is a lot though, let me help, we'll get there sooner." The other knight nods, the two then beginning to hack away at the slime, destroying them one by one, although they weren't exactly alive and moving.

Noticing the opportunity, I use my superior speed to swing it and take the bag, them realizing the slime was just a decoy shortly after. Pitiful how they look right now, but I disregard them now with the important loot, gunning past them towards the village. Reaching the clearing before the village entrance, I see it manned by six archers and in between them all is Garion, standing with a smirk on his face, announcing, "I'm surprised you made it back, but you're now a wanted criminal for killing two knights who attempted to protect you."

I begin to argue, shouting back, "What do you me-" abruptly being cut off by the archers firing at the knights who had been tailing me, "They saw this, framing me for something won't work out in your favor."

He shakes his head with a twisted smile, "Who said I was framing you? All I need is a reason to kill you and take that book from your corpse. They get paid enough to keep quiet." He motions to his archers to aim, "And should you escape, well, framing you doesn't sound too bad either."

Frustrated at my horrible odds once more, I rush to one of the now pincushioned knights, using the body for cover. Waiting a moment, arrows strike the body, six in count, knowing they'll have to reload, I take my chances and book it back into the forest. Hearing him shout in the distance, telling squads to head out after me. Making use of the adrenaline I have pumping, I sprint through the forest I had initially came from, trying to find the wagon path. Headed straight for a while, I take a moment to catch my breath as I'm sure I'd lost them.

Walking out into a small hilled clearing, I instantly recognize where I am, headed over the hill. On the hillside, I take a seat and pull out the book, looking over the dark colored blue book with metal corners, "So, what makes you worth so much? How about a quick read through."

The book's title reading, _"Celestia, Syllabus of Frozen Space." _Curiosity taking me over, I open the book, a flash of cold light blasting through and blinding me, the hillside exploding into an ice crater. Dazed I attempt to sit up, my ears ringing still, but end up just laying there, unsure of how to feel. A few minutes go by before my vision is fully clear, picking up the book, I attempt to read through it but all the pages are empty. Glancing around my surroundings, I'm surprised to be met with the crater I had now inhabited full of ice. Climbing out from the crater, I stumble down the hill, and into the pathway back to Baebluff. Deeming it best to get what I can from the city before the village's news spreads, I jog over to the main gate. Although fairly slow, as all the running today has tired me out, and no surprise to my unlucky self, the cut from one of the skeletons had also gotten worse.

Reaching the gate, I see a normal group of knights around, the dyed one nowhere to be seen, likely due to a rotation in shifts, it's only a few hours after midday, so it'd make sense. The guards noticing my arrival, wave me in with one of the wagons, which I follow until I get to the main plaza. Scrounging around for any sort of medical shop, I stumble into one called, _"Cleric Mia's infirmary and medicinal shop," _clutching my side as the adrenaline wore off completely. The medic acknowledging this, rushes over and helps me over to one of the stools in the back room. She motions for me to lift up my shirt to reveal my side, bleeding and in shades of purple as small particles emitted from it.

The nurse of sorts looks with surprise, stating, "It looks like you got struck by a cursed weapon. Let me grab some holy water, I think I have some on the shelf." I nod and wait for her to come back, sucking in the pain as it had been gradually increasing.

She took a cloth and soaked it into the holy water, preparing to lay it on the wound, warning, "This may sting, a lot."

I grit my teeth, "Just do it." She follows through immediately after, and she wasn't wrong, it hurts to high heavens, like putting alcohol to a cut but three times as bad.

Still shallowly grunting, she asks, "I don't often run into curses like that, curses that ramp up in pain are quite rare, where'd you acquire it?"

I state unknowingly, "If I had to guess, it was a run in with a skeleton, it got a good nick on me with the blade, but it didn't hurt that bad at the time."

She finishes bandaging the wound and says, "Skeletons? I take it you were by ruins of some sort, they don't often appear anywhere else."

I nod asking, trying to stay superficial and objective, "I'll keep it in mind, how much is the treatment?"

She tallies the cost up in her head and simply states, "15 silver, holy water isn't exactly cheap but it's great at expelling curses."

I hand her the coins and get up, feeling much better now, I ask, "So I take it you also deal in herbs and the like, can you tell me if any of these are useful medicinally?" I pull out some plants from my bag, and show them to her.

She holds her finger up, saying, "A moment please," as she runs to one of the shelves next to the counter and pulls a book off it, continuing with, "This should tell you what most plants do in a general amount of forests, although, many of these ingredients will vary in quality, appraisal magic can help you out with that. It's 5 silver if you wish to keep it for yourself."

I shrug and hand her the extra silver, "It'll probably come in handy for someone that isn't in town a lot." That said and done, I take my leave, not wanting to converse for too long, I hardly trust anyone enough with it at the moment. Looking myself over , I conclude the armor I'm wearing hardly appears to be in prime condition.

Walking over to the blacksmith, I walk up to the dwarf's table, the bulky man looking up at me, asking with annoyance in his eyes, "Back are we, elf? What do you need?"

Thankful that he cuts right to the point, I set the metal pieces of my lightweight armor down, asking, "Can you repair these back to their prime condition?"

He picks up each piece with a surprised look, "Yes, yes I can. Where'd you get these, for how old the pieces are, they're in quite good condition and well made to boot."

Surprised, I question, "You can tell how old items are? That aside, I found them in some ruins, how much will it cost?"

He scoffs, "Ruins? Everything that I've gotten my hands on from them is usually so beat up it's unfixable, but to stay objective, it'll be 5 silver a piece."

I hand him the silver, "When will it be ready?"

The smith points to the room behind the counter, "I can start working on it now, I don't have any other orders, so it should only take about an hour or two."

I nod taking a seat in a nearby chair, "I'll be here when it's finished then."

He waves it off, "Suit yourself." I lean back into the chair, deciding to take a short nap, the day has been long to say the least.

I wake up to the sound of a gruff male, "Oi, elf. Wake up, your gear is done. Sleeping in my shop is bad for business y'know."

I grab the gear from the counter, equipping it with an apology, "Pardon, I've just had a long day."

He shakes his, "It's alright, I'd actually like to apologize myself, I treated you badly off the bat because you were an elf, it wasn't fair of me. I'm just still getting over my friends who were recently ambushed by magic, most resorted to blaming the elves for it and I'm guilty of it too. I took the liberty of fixing up your blade, free of charge of course, but it should hold up a lot better than it previously had."

I look to him with a sympathetic look, saying, "I hadn't known, I'm sorry for your losses. May they rest in peace in whatever it is you believe in. And thanks."

Just as I'm about to leave the award pulls me in close, saying into my ear, "Watch your back out there, I don't trust any of these knights nowadays. Not only them, but anyone else affiliated with the Three Heroes Church just gives off a fishy aura."

I whisper back in question, "Three Heroes Church? I'm not from around here, what's the purpose?"

He says back with surprise, "In the territory of Melromarc, that's the main religion. They command a great deal of power with their population and central location. As for the Church, they're based on four heroes, the Spear Hero, Bow Hero, Sword Hero, and Shield Hero, although the Shield Hero is frowned upon in this religion, so under normal circumstances, kingdoms like Siltvelt, would summon the Shield as they worshipped him over the others, while other nations would summon one hero each. Their whole purpose? To fight off the Waves, a time in which enemies descend onto the land and plunge it into darkness, only disappearing after being defeated, it's said each wave becomes more potent than the last, thus the need for these heroes. That's just the legend though. We lie inside Melromarc, but about half way between the capital and edge of the territory, should you ever need reference."

Pulling away from the man, I ask, "So when is this Wave theoretically supposed to happen?"

He shrugs, "I'm not sure, but if someone did know, it'd surely put people into a panic. I'd watch the dragon hourglasses, usually inside the churches, as I hear they tell when a wave will approach. Should one begin ticking, I'm sure you'll hear of it."

I walk towards the doorway, turning a last time to thank him, "May we see each other again, I wish you good living." Headed out of the blacksmith's shop I rush over to the horse wagons and ask around to see if anyone is headed towards my next drawing near Minas Galionor.

To my surprise, I notice one of the magic shopkeepers preparing a wagon, curious, I walk up to her and ask, "Headed out?"

She nods looking up slightly, lifting her hat from her eyes, "Yes, to Minas Galionor for a delivery, why? Also, haven't we spoken before?"

I simply state, "I was just wondering, as I needed a ride to that location and I have no idea how to get there. And yes, we've spoken, I believe it was when I asked you for some help with analysis magic."

She shakes her head, "Oh yeah, I remember you now, I do apologize though, I can be quite an airhead. I'll let you on for a silver, though I do warn you, it's a few days worth of travelling."

I hand her a silver coin, "I think I'll manage." She attempts to get into the driving seat of the wagon, but looks to need a little help. I chuckle and help her up, getting in from the other side shortly after. She sheepishly takes the horse's leads and get them going along the stone path towards the northern gate.

As we come to the gate, a guard looks at the wagon and the goods, quickly waving us through. Once we head through and turn to the right, another carriage with multiple knights shows up, an old man stepping out from inside it. I turn around, not wanting to see that man, I already know what he plans on doing and I just sigh in relief as to be out of the city. Although I begin to feel bad for the peppy mage who was humming her way along the path.

Deciding to start up some small talk, I ask, "So what are you delivering anyway?"

She stops humming and says, "Oh, just some books and other miscellaneous things a new shop owner would need, my sister is starting one up over there. What reason do you have for going there?"

I pull out one of my drawings, pointing to the third one, "I'm headed here to investigate that area," using the analysis magic, I point, "If you remember, you had appraised these almost a week ago. The first one I had found out about in Ciburh lead to me finding this gear I'm wearing."

She looks on with a surprised expression, "Really? I thought your armor was bought new, it looks great. You find anything else?"

I pull out the once filled book, showing her that it was now empty, asking, "I found this, but when I opened it I was blinded and left in a crater, the words disappeared after that."

She hands me the reins and looks the book over, saying, "Some old tomes you find are trapped, but normally you'd end up being able to notice that before opening it, also count not being dead in that crater a plus as well. So the only other thing I could think of is you took in the book's contents, hence for the blinding and crater, think of it like the knowledge blasting itself into you. Were you dazed and had a slight headache after?"

I nodded my head in confirmation, and she continuing with, "Then I believe you came up across something truly old and likely strong, old tomes that do that to the user, often are only meant to be used once, implying few people should know whatever the spells were. The only way to make words appear on this book again, would be to master whatever it put into your head and magically inscribe it back into the book so another person could use it." I take the book back and stow it away, giving her the reins once more, using my absorb skill inside my bag to manage my inventory without being seen using my slime half.

I state out in confusion, "But what if I don't know what it put into my head?"

The other mage ponders on the thought, "Have you tried just viewing your status? That should tell you all your known skills, similar to how it'd show you your level. I'm surprised you ask though, many learn all this from a young age," she chuckles, "Maybe that book also hit you in the head along with the magic."

I sigh and pull up the menu as she suggested, concluding that these sorts of things weren't very limited, think it and it happens. From this point, a skill tree pops up, showing my current abilities. Highlighting the ice magic sub tree, multiple spells are outlined, the more mana heavy spells gaining the element's aura on a varying level. I look to the woman in shock, asking, "So how many spells do these tomes usually give?"

She shrugs, simply stating, "One or two on average, though it can be quite dependent on the name of the book and how old it was, older books tended to harbor a lot more knowledge for their space available compared to newer ones. Why?"

I rub the back of my head in continued astonishment, "Well, the book was called _Celestia: Syllabus of Frozen Space_, and to say the least I gained an outline of more than a few ice magic spells, around ten, I'd say."

She holds a blank face for a moment, "Huh. Are you sure about that?" I nod and she suddenly becomes extremely energetic, "That's amazing I've never actually seen it happen but I've heard of such things happening, although very minimally. Mastering all those skills ought to be really fun without having to study for them like most."

I tilt my head, saying, "How will I know when a spell is mastered?"

The woman tilts her head as well, "You really don't know that much about magic for an elf, I'm surprised. Well for one, when you master a spell, it becomes significantly more powerful. Another thing that can happen as well, is the spell could upgrade into a different spell, and finally, it also drains less of your magic power to use that specific spell."

I simply let out a sigh, "I take it the only way to get these spells to mastery is through studying more or using them?"

She points at my head, "Bingo, now you're getting it."

The sun has begun setting and dusk encroaching onto the horizon, and the magus deciding it'd be best to take a break, more for the horse's sakes. Tired, I offer her a swig of Elderflower Brew I still had in my waterskin, "Thirsty?"

The human is slow to accept, but takes the beverage, "I don't drink much, but I suppose I'll make an exception."

I take the drink back after she takes a few sips, stating, "It's not a very strong drink so you should be alright, it's nice on the stomach and leaves a nice taste in the mouth. I convinced the bartender to give me the recipe, though he was pretty reluctant to tell it." She shook her head in agreement, hopping into the back of the wagon. Seeing as to keep her from worrying, I offer, "I'll keep watch tonight, so nothing will happen. Just get some sleep, we still got a ways to go before we get there.

She goes on to say, "Are you su-," before abruptly falling asleep. I can only subtly laugh at the girl, but I don't blame her. I focus on keeping my senses up for anything out of the ordinary or magical, reflecting on the past events to determine my next move.

The moment the sun had risen, I wake up the horses and begin to follow the path laid out in front of us, the sleeping mage completely unaware. Glancing over my shoulder towards her, I notice how peaceful she looks, so I leave her to sleep for a while longer, focusing on the road ahead. The sky is clear, but the clouds seem to be gathering in the distance, I say my prayers for the storm to come after we arrive into the city.

A few hours went by, and by then, the woman had finally woken up, although in a stupor from the looks of it, but she could still drive the wagon. I doze off not too long after handing over the reins.

Waking up to the sound of voices, I quickly sat up, looking around to determine where it was coming from. It doesn't take long to see the conversation between the guard and the merchant going through, allowing us to pass into the city. The gray sky beginning to open up slightly with rain as we trek around towards wherever her sister's shop is located.

Reaching the stone and wood building a clearly lit torch can be seen overhead, another female next to it under a sign. I notice my driver get excited as we pull around to the shop, with her practically jumping at her sister. Following their greetings, I open up the back of the wagon, asking, "You want some help moving this in as well?"

They both nodded sheepishly, the owner saying, "I'd appreciate it." I shrug, beginning to lug the boxes of items inside, the two sisters catching up while I do so. I understand it and all but she could at least help while talking. Sighing I just go along with it, watching the two head inside as I put the last box down.

Once things had settled, I walked up to the other merchant, drawing in hand, "So do you know where this?"

After pointing to a large tree on a hill, she looks with confusion, asking, "Yeah, why?"

I simply state, "I came here to see it, care to point me in its direction?"

She gives me a funny look, replying, "Just take a left from here and follow the path until you see it branch off into the more mountainous area of town, it's hard to miss once you find it."

I give thanks before walking out to find the tree, overhearing the sister mention me as an odd one, _"I'd say more, but I don't trust anyone anymore, especially about these drawings." _

Following the recommended path, I eventually see the tree she was talking about, just along the staircase up a hill towards more housing. Comparing the images, they don't seem to match up, but already this far into town, I look at it from a few different angles. Circling around to the backside eventually, I find the back of the tree to be matching the picture. Activating the viewing magic once more, I see the whole middle of the tree lightly covered in mana texture. _"The whole middle of the tree? That can't be right. Wait, I'm being stupid, the bark dumbass._

I walk up to the tree and begin to peel away some of the bark, a small hole opening up in the center of the tree, the contents being orange and red teardrop shaped earrings. Reaching out to grab them, I'm halted by a voice, almost as if it was in my head, the said voice announcing, _"If you wish to take the Phoenix Tears, you must be able to withstand the heat equivalent the heart of a phoenix itself. Should you be able to host these earrings, you'll have proven you are as sturdy as the tree before you, standing even among the hottest temperatures. Will you accept the challenge?"_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of Shield Hero, but what I have added, I'm sure you'll notice.

I grabbed the earrings and put them on, "I need every edge I can get, taking risks is something I will need to do anyway, I'm no stranger to it."

The tree's voice replies in acceptance, _"Very well, your choice has been made, prepare yourself, the burning will stop once and if the earrings accept you and your will. If they do not, you will die." _

I make use of my slime, creating a gel layer around my body, more dense the closer it gets to my skin. Already, I can feel the heat beginning to rise outside the layer, dubbing it not enough, I focus on one of my ice spells, chanting, **"Frost Defense: Mana Skin" **Cool ice currents begin to flow around me, restraining the temperature rise, but the rise continues to jump further and further, causing the heat to start to melt away my mana skin, creating bountiful amounts of steam. I increase the mana flow into maintaining the magic, but I'm beginning to fall behind, the temperature still climbing and my mana draining faster and faster. The heat beginning to rise even further, it's breaks through my ice barrier, now cutting into my gel layer. Dropping to a knee, I try to force my mana into becoming denser and thicker around the gel, but the feeling of smoldering ashes bashing up against the layer continues to eat away at my protection, quickly draining the reduced cost shield, and into the final and densest layer. I can practically see the flames coming at me, it's scary, the screeching of a phoenix itself almost able to be heard. Not only that, but on top of that, it brings back the memories of a burning village surrounded by goblins, all shouting and killing people. I drop onto my hands and knees, the final gel layer almost broken as it feels like I'm being attacked on two fronts, burning away at my mind and soul. I let out a scream as the final layer is broken and I feel the direct heat of a phoenix at full blast. I swear I'm melting, losing my mind and soul to the flames, devouring at it without a pause. A few tears fall from my eyes, but are immediately turned to steam. The hill glowed a bright orange in the rain through the test, drawing in spectators, anyone coming close enough to try to interfere or stop it, ending up burned. I grit my teeth in the heat, shouting, "To hell with this! I won't falter, giving in is what you desire, right? Well fuck you! You can pull all the memories you want, you can subject me to all the pain you want, but nothing with break my will. Phoenixes are meant to rise from the ashes of their fallen lives, then I have already done such, I died and came back, I have a goal and a promise and I won't break that. You won't gain my soul or mind to whatever it is this test is." I attempt to stand up, reaching a knee, my body shouting to do otherwise, reaching full height, once more yelling at the tree, "I'm up, and if there's anything more you need to show me, bring it on! I may be burning, but this is nothing compared to what people will have to endure if I don't follow through with my promise."

The tree speaks one final time, _"It seems, I have found a suitable contender, I pass on the earrings to you. Although, the tears themselves went to a completely different level, I am surprised, I haven't seen them glow that brightly before. But now, I may rest, put them to good use young one."_

I walk forward with a stagger, leaning onto the now dying tree, looking at the crowd that had amassed with blurred vision, my body still steaming, leaving burnt crisps where I stepped and touched. The people themselves containing an either jaw dropped face or a confused one. The rain puffing onto me still, I stumble my way through the group and down the staircase, leaning against the mountainside wall through the way down, before collapsing to my knees in the center of the stone road. Staring up into the clouds, I can't help but feel completely drained, physically and mentally, fainting in place.

Waking up inside a dark room, a light visible under a cloth or door, I feel around my person, checking for everything. Noticing I'm missing my clothes, I jump out of bed, using the ambient light to look around. Finding all my clothes and armor set on a nearby table, I quickly begin putting them on. Pulling the cloth aside, I walk into view of two girls, both of them returning a look of surprise.

The both of them walk up to me, the owner starting the line of questions, "What did you do at that tree? How aren't you dead, the heat was so intense. What caused it to happen?"

I wave my hands in front of me, "Woah, woah, can we slow down with the questions? How long was I out first of all?"

The other girl, the mages sister, speaks up, "A few weeks. To be completely honest, I thought you were dead, but my sister insisted that you still had a heartbeat."

I bow my head slightly, apologizing, "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. It'd probably be best I take my leave."

At the door, one of the mages hold up a piece of paper, the exact one I dropped after taking up the tree's challenge, stating, "These drawing you had me appraise, you're going to keep after the rest of them aren't you." I nod, her continuing on with, "There are many who'd strive to take anything you find away from you. Although, it seems you won't have trouble with that, a man had already said you killed two knights in order to gain that magical book you showed me. The only reason I hadn't turned you in was because my sister was gracious enough to give you the benefit of the doubt."

I mumble, just barely audible, "I'd recommend keeping away from me as well. He'd kill anyone who's associated with me."

Heading out of the shop, I can only sigh at my predicament, the word has caught up to me and likely anywhere else I go within this region. I pull out my maps, noticing they had been marked up more than previously in a different handwriting. I read the notes aloud, "These locations aren't in this region, if you really want to find them, the rest are near the capital's territory. The capital itself is east of the gate you came through and about a few months off by foot. I'd be careful though, the closer you get to the capital, the more human supremacy becomes apparent."

Annoyed at the thought of just how much more this country could get fucked up, I pull up my status to distract myself. Browsing over my skill set, I notice the large mana density around the Phoenix Tears, I guess they're quite powerful, as it seems all my stats are boosted to hell particularly regeneration. Not only that, but I also gained new magic spells, all depicted under a phoenix subclass. Although, a few things were grayed out, I suppose I'll end up finding out what it does later.

Following the road towards the once tall reaching walls, I try to jump up onto a building, it actually working out quite smoothly, and then over to the wall, completely bypassing the guards. I mumbled, looking down the wall, "Guess it's time to find out if I have a lighter fall from these things." Closing my eyes and leaping off the wall, I land on the ground with minimal impact, sighing in relief at the outcome. Taking the gate's position from here, I begin to run nearby to the path, testing how fast I can reliably go. To say the least, it's definitely an upgrade from before, the pacing a little faster than a loaded wagon. At this rate, I'll surely shorten up the journey from a few months to maybe one or so, well hopefully anyway. Arriving at the capital is the priority now, the danger the wizard was talking about is likely Waves. Though, it'd be nice to have an autopilot to get there, seems it'd be best to stick to the roads, close enough to one anyway.

Glancing ahead, I follow along the treeline, running until dusk, find a tree to sleep in, then rinse, repeat. Finding food and water whenever it's nearby shouldn't be too difficult and anything else that gets in the way I'll just have to put down, but nothing too dangerous should show up along the roadway.

Through the month, the travelling was fairly simple, even physical fatigue being quite minimal due to my subtle regeneration from my race and earrings. Otherwise, gathering food and water had just led to me collecting a good deal of resources and mob drops, although they are probably common parts and such, it beats nothing. A good positive note however, was that a few of my spells had been mastered by fending off some off the mobs, even if they are some of the more basic spells, the difference when mastered was still noticeable. Finally, I figured out that the reason the Phoenix Tears were so powerful, was because they are a legendary item. This in turn lead me to find out that it led into a crafting tree for specific items relating to the legendary one, so if I gain enough material, I can apparently craft Phoenix Wings. Alas, some negative is coming out of this as my sword is quite damaged along with my armor, and I still don't exactly have the money to fix it or upgrade it no less.

The capital is within view now, around a few hours away from my current location, but to be careful, I keep my hood up to keep my identity hidden, focusing on the main gate ahead. About a dozen or so guards laid at the entrance, checking every nook and cranny in each wagon and person that has gone through so far. Branching off to the right, I run a while before finally hopping over the wall, releasing my hood with it to blend in with the crowd up people gathering around a large building close to the center of town from the looks of it. Quickly, I notice the three pillars of the said building, along with more people congregating into the area, only a few thoughts crossing my mind. Weaving my way through the group, I try to get a good look at the base of the church, eventually spotting an old man with a crown and purple ornaments laid over his body.

The old man speaks, as if to announce something, "As I'm sure all of you have heard, the Dragon Hourglass has begun its countdown, and this means the Waves are upon us. However, worry not, as the first wave may start in a month, it is also the easiest one, I'm confident our knights can hold it off this time around. We just need time, as summoning the Four Cardinal Heroes takes a lot of combined energy for our mages." Seemingly rallied, people shout at the presumed king in a confident manor and mentality, although from the sound of it, this kingdom is already up to no good. The four heroes are meant to be summoned one each per kingdom, are they really risking the potential lives of these people for their own greedy purposes? The lack of these so called heroes could still be a detriment to their own forces too.

The crowds of people begin to disperse shortly after the king's speech, using it as an opportunity to get inside the church, I walk through the common folk and into the main entrance of the large building. Running into one of the nuns, she asks, "What is your purpose for being here?"

I state truthfully, "To see the Dragon Hourglass. That is allowed, right?"

She shakes her head, "No, normally it is only allowed to be visited by the four heroes and their parties, the royal family also inside that exception."

I hold out a few silvers underhand, "Oh come now, what's the harm in at least taking me there, you can be on your way after."

The girl looks to each side before taking the silvers, "Alright, fine, but I'm leaving as soon as you're there." I nodded and motioned for her to lead the way, the young female complying.

Walking into the Hourglass's room, the nun makes haste to exit the area, leaving me to the contraption. Glancing at the grains of sand, a glow from my earrings heads into the hourglass, causing a timer to pop up in the top of my view, the time reading two weeks, not a month. Unintentionally, I can only mumble in frustration, "That lying sack of shit, he really is trying to get the jump on everyone and the other nations too if they lack these hourglasses. I guarantee he'll try to use this to argue that they needed to summon the heroes immediately. Seems I'll have to take the heroes places for this fight, I hope you're watching wizard, because this isn't going to be easy." Just then, another prompt appears in my view, confirming to teleport me to the location upon the timer's completion, leading me to agree to the terms for convenience sake. Hearing voices shortly after, and footsteps headed this way, I make a break for it out of the room and towards the entrance, also detecting a small spike in mana but I disregard it, more focused on getting out of sight.

A woman clad in dark clothing, from head to toe, pulls down her mask in front of a crowned woman in a purple and white dress, adorned in gold lining, saying, "We sadly have confirmation that the wizard is now deceased, although it appears he left us something."

The regal woman states in sadness, a tear running down her eye, "That bumbling old fool, I told you getting involved wouldn't end well. Where'd you get this information? Also, what is this something you speak of?"

The other woman replied simply, restating the words she heard, "I only heard part of what she said, but from the sound of it, a woman, said, _"Seems I'll have to take the heroes places for this fight, I hope you're watching wizard, because this isn't going to be easy." _I can only assume the girl was with him in his dying moments and is willing to fight off the Waves as well. Although, I'm surprised, I didn't think the wizard had any family or acquaintances left, but even more surprisingly, the girl was able to activate the Dragon Hourglass."

The once crying woman, now filled with curiosity as well, states out, "He didn't have any of that. Last I spoke with him, he was working on summoning magic to help defend against the Waves, so it seems he finally mastered it. He may have lost his life, but if this girl was able to activate the hourglass, it appears that it recognizes her as a Hero, or at least the caliber of one. Did she appear to be any one of the Cardinal Heroes?"

The masked woman shook her head, "No, she had a sword, but there was nothing special about it. Something on her gave off a powerful aura though, I'm still not sure as to what however. She appeared to have spotted me, but didn't do anything about it. Do you still want me to keep watch or confront her, my queen?"

The Queen nods her head, "Keep watch, albeit much further this time. I don't know anything about her besides the fact that she'll help fight off the Waves, even a name at this point would be progress."

The ninja of sorts lifts up her mask, complying, "Very well, I'll see what I can do."

Blending back into the crowds of people, I pull up my skills after branching off towards one of the alleyways for some space. I try to organize what I have available for the coming wave, starting off with spells. Beginning the list with ice spells, I organize them by mastery:

**Frost Defense: Mana Skin - Mastered**

_Defense against cold based attacks and reduced damage from heat based attacks._

**Ice Spire - Apprentice**

_A large pointed pillar of ice launched within a few feet of the caster._

**Hibernation - Novice**

_A rest based recovery spell, increases health and stamina regeneration at the cost of mana._

**Snow Conjuration - Novice**

_Creates a summoned familiar based on the caster's thoughts, amount decided by size and abilities of said familiar._

**Cryo Armor of Mentality - Novice**

_Normal summoning of this ice based armor set is based on mastery of the skill, initially starting with the gauntlets at novice, leggings and boots at apprentice, and chest at mastery. The mana cost is high under normal summoning. Under special summoning, this is based on the caster's emotional state, the stronger the emotion, the more armor pieces equipped regardless of mastery and the reduced the mana cost. Extra abilities under this state: Unknown._

The remaining spells are grayed out, so I look to my fire spells next, also assorted with a good deal of grayed out spells, but I list out the few by mastery as well:

**Fireball - Mastered**

_A low-cost, reliable, magic blast attack._

**Ashen Whirlwind - Novice**

_A tornado of ash and fire sent to consume a target, grounded or not._

**Brimstone Talons - Novice**

_When unarmed, the caster summons flaming talons at their hands. The more dense the mana in the spell, the stronger the talons become._

Similarly to the ice spells, the fire spells had been limited. From what I can assume, they must be either locked through training or knowledge, or possibly default unlocked by level. Sighing, I push off the alley wall I had been leaning on, heading into the crowds of shops, looking to see the monster drops I had gained over the journey here. Asking around, I quickly found where I needed to go, but gained a few dirty looks along the way. _"Seems the note wasn't wrong about the decscrimination part."_

Walking towards one of the stands, a sleazy looking man had stood there with a face that would make anyone angry. Seeing the latest adventurer leave the stand, I make my way up to it and set my items along the tabletop, stating, "Buy these," pulling my cloak aside to reveal my sword, I rest my hand on the hilt, continuing with, "And don't try to rip me off."

He held a sweat-filled anxious look, clearing his throat, "Right, of course." He began to lift up the various items and examine them, eventually coming to the conclusion, "In total, these materials are worth about 61 silvers."

I wait for him to deal the coins, carefully counting each one. It seems he is aware of this as multiple drops of sweat leak down his face, handing me the bag of coins shortly after, which I store into my bag. "Pleasure doing business," was all I said before walking off with my new sum of coins, heading towards a smith's shop to repair my items. Though, I'm surprised all my common drops had amounted to that, I continued to hold onto my other drops as they were outlined as better items in my inventory. "_To be fair, I hadn't cashed in since I got in this world, but this brings me up to at least 70 silver coins, so I should be able to repair and upgrade my gear a little."_

Browsing around for a while, I pass through a gate and into another shopping complex, finding the blacksmith I had been looking for. Heading inside the building, I find a well-built darker man, he turned his bald head over to me scratching his beard as I pull down my hood once inside, "Ain't I seen you before?"

I look at him with a confused look, "No, I don't think so."

Snapping his fingers he states, "Actually, I have, on the wanted posters around town. Apparently you're worth a pretty penny."

"So what, gonna go turn me in?" I can only eye him cautiously as he gives off a vibe that he's much stronger than he appears.

He shrugs his shoulders, "While 50 gold coins does sound appealing, I can't say I trust the man who put up the bounty."

Surprised, I asked, "Oh, what's your beef with Garion?"

The smith lifts his sleeve up and states with a disappointed tone, "My shoulder got nailed by an arrow when I was still adventuring with a small group. One of his knights shot at our squad when we were closing in on some ruins, and since we were outnumbered, eventually everyone was pinned by arrows and a clean up of sword fighters. I barely made it out alive myself, and it was all because we didn't know how to get inside this door in the side of a mountain. I still blame myself for not being able to do more."

I lower my head to him, saying with an empathetic tone, "I'm sorry for your losses. A similar thing happened to me in fact, although, I managed to get inside the door you spoke of. However, the knights he escorted with me ended up betraying me after I took a book that was set on a pedestal. I imagine you never tried to turn him in because of his influence?"

"Yeah, I'm glad he didn't end up taking your life in that case, who knows how many he's killed in order to gain that book. I don't even want to begin thinking about what he'll do with it." said the man looking down at one of his blades before setting back onto it's rack.

I state simply in response, "He won't do anything, I managed to get the book back. He tried to chase me through the woods but I got away. As long as you are fine with me, I'm fine with you."

Watching the man return to his counter, he asks, "Alright, I can work with that. Anyway, I'm Erhard, anything you need done in specific?"

I set my degraded pieces of armor and sword into the smith's view, "How much to repair these?"

Similar to the dwarf's approach, Erhard picks up each piece individually and examines them carefully. He sighs, which causes me to believe it won't be cheap, "The sword is a lost cause, my appraisal magic is showing that the internal structure of the blade is basically ruined. As for the armor, it's not too bad in shape, I'd put it around 40 silver coins to normally service it, but I'll discount you 10."

Wandering through the multiple swords on display, I ask, "How long should it take? Also what kind of sword would you recommend within 20 or 25 silvers?"

The man picks up the gear and begins to head into the back room, suggesting, "For a sword at that price, I'd take a look at the magic iron section of the shop towards the left. As for your armor, I'd give it a day to repair along with my other orders, so come by tomorrow morning after you pick out a new weapon."

Sighing, I head over to the magic iron section, glancing around for a short sword among the many other weapons. All things considered, it's still likely my best wielded weapon at my current status. Eventually finding one among the masses of weaponry, I stroll over to the tabletop with the weapon, Erhard pulling out of the back room as I set the blade down. I point to the weapon, asking, "Price?"

He stands with a satisfied grin, "You really do have a good eye for blades, the last one was almost a given for that fact. That's around 23 silver."

I pull out the required amount for the armor and blade, handing him the coins in a bag, "53 silver, I trust that it will be put to good use."

The smith nods, taking the bag of coins and setting it aside, "I'll do my best. See you tomorrow kid, and be careful, would ya?"

Waving him off as I headed out the door, I emphasize, "I will, and the name's Jade."

Entering the blacksmith's shop the next day, I spot Erhard at the main stand, asking, "Is it ready?"

The man nods with a grin and pulls up a crate with my armor in it, stating with a satisfied face, "Yes, I think it came out quite well actually, I even had extra time to add a few more materials to increase the durability. Take a look for yourself."

I pick up the crate and head into one of the nearby changing rooms, quickly adjusting the armor to match my frame. Moving around a little, it felt a lot more smooth and a little more comfortable than before. Walking out of the changing booth, I give the man a satisfied glance, "This is well done, continue with work like this and I'll definitely consider coming back."

The smith rubs the back of his head, "I'm glad you approve then," noticing my ears for the first time as they had been covered last we talked, he questions in a curious tone, "An elf? I hadn't noticed before, along with those earrings, I hadn't seen anything like those around here."

I tilt my head with a blank face, "I'm surprised you didn't notice yesterday, but yes, I'm an elf. I suppose it comes to surprise many smiths, that dwarf I met said the same thing. As for the earrings, well, I'd have to guess there's only one pair in the world."

Erhard asks with a seemingly excited voice, "Was this dwarf a smith in Baebluff? Is he well?" I nodded, and he let a sigh of relief out, "I'm glad to hear so, he stopped smithing for a while after his friends had been attacked I heard. He was the one who taught me how to smith after my injuries, it did well to help fix my arm up as a therapy."

The man came around his counter and pointed to my earrings, "You don't mind if I take a look at these with my appraisal magic, do you?"

I shrug, stating with a stern expression, "As long as it's free."

He taps one of the earrings, before quickly pulling his hand back, "Damn, those things are hot, how do you manage?"

Waving it off, I say in a nonchalant manner, "Feels fine to me."

He pulls out a magnifying glass and puts his magic into it, examining my earrings, "Anyways, my magic only states that there's a good deal of power inside them, but not much else. I haven't quite seen anything like it, if I'm going to be completely honest."

I can only mumble out of the smith's earshot, "Let's hope it's enough." Reaching for the door, I give my goodbyes to the blacksmith and glance at the church upon exiting the building.

Within the churches boundaries, I view the timer that had popped up in the top of my view, now counting down the minutes until the wave begins. In those minutes, I can only think back to the wizard's words, _"Please. . . save the people." _Sighing as the timer reaches its finale, I look to the sky, "Seems it's time I finally pay you back." With that thought in mind, I feel myself become lighter vanish from the church's square.

Opening my eyes once more to a blood-red sky, filled with rifts of strange variations of blue and green, I witness the first monsters begin to fall unto the lands. The monsters having no discrimination as to what they attacked, began invading the nearby towns and villages, only assisted by local knights and adventurers. The main monster littering the settlements appear to be two headed dogs, about the size of an average man if I had to take a guess. However, what did worry me, was the larger and much denser mana signature of something further away. The former gamer in me couldn't sway the thought of it being the boss mob of the Wave. Deciding it'd be best to find it before it finds all these people, I rush into one of the towns in its direction.

Entering the town, I find it to be relatively small, but there were still too many nooks for the monsters to be fighting in. Shouting out, **"Fireball!"** I force it to blow up midair above me, hoping it would draw the beats towards my location. Surely enough, it brought a large group of the dog-like monsters to me, so I call out to what of the nearby knights who had been quivering in fear, "Oi, if you don't want to die, I'd recommend getting out of here and guide any civilians you can find towards safety. You're capable of that much?"

The knight nods and makes haste out of the area. A few of the hounds look to the running man, but I draw their attention back to me after shouting, "Hey, over here you mutts! Come and get me!" Running towards a more cleared area, they follow in tow, barking vigorously. Upon reaching the clearing, I had easily started to get surrounded, but rather than standing in fear, I smirk as they come at me all at once. I mumble out just as they get within a few yards of me, "Seems someone has to turn up the AI on these things, **Ashen Whirlwind!**" The barks abruptly turn to shrieks of pain as the two-headed beings fall one-by-one, suffocating in the ash and being burned away if it isn't enough. The tornado reached up into the sky, continuing to consume at least a few dozen of the minions. Releasing the spell shortly after, I take a moment to catch my breath, this short pause causes me to hear the slight sounds of a body of water, looking towards it, I see another village, a larger one, in the distance. Beginning to head toward it, I stumble upon another village, although this one has more defenders and have been holding it town quite well from the looks of it. Slashing through a few of the creatures along the way, I continue heading towards the village by the water.

Abruptly, I stop, sensing the large mana signature begin to move towards the town as well. The beast had been moving far quicker than I had been able, even after picking up my pace considerably. I mumble in dismay, "There's no way I'll reach there in time, it'll all be destroyed by then." Watching a few cavalry units headed towards the village, appearing to be chasing the beast, an idea pops up in my head. Reaching my hand out, I say, "I was hoping to conserve my mana, but I need to do something. **Snow Conjuration: Horse**."

Using the horses increased speed, I look to the village in a more rapidly approaching manner. Even with the increased speed, it was still costing mana to maintain, and I'm still going to be at least 15 or so minutes late. Judging by my current position though, I still have a chance to save half the city.

Tailing the beast as it wipes out the normal cavalry, I watch it run through buildings, eliminating the multiple lives of anyone inside, and torching any other nearby buildings with a blast of fire from one of its three heads. The beast itself was capable of this much destruction and it was only running, a straight on attack would likely kill any adventurer or knight in its path. Following it to a cliffside, it stops in front of three humans, or so I thought, only until I got closer, I determine them to be demi-humans. Still a few hundred feet away, two of the beings stand in front of a smaller one, likely the parents, they appear to say a few things to the smaller one. By this point, I'm around fifty feet away, only reaching them as they push their child over the cliff, into the presumed water below, both of them getting chomped in the process by the heads. Pulling over to the cliff, almost as if everything had slowed down, similar to back then, when I was helpless to do anything. This time however, I wasn't helpless, I looked to the falling child with confidence, "I respect the sacrifice your parents made to keep you safe, as such, I will put this thing down to prevent anyone else from suffering your fate."

_**「**__**Unique Ability Unlocked**__**」**__**Flame Absorption**__, spell, __**"Mana Zone," **__acquired._

"**Mana Zone." **My earrings glowed a bright orange, shades of red and yellow among those. This sensation was similar to that of when I first received the jewelry, but this time I was in control and fully conscious. The ground began to heat up significantly, burning away the grass almost immediately, leaving scorch marks into the dirt and rock below it. Walking forward, the hairs along the beast's leg begins to singe up and burn away, causing the massive dog creature to back up slightly. Glancing up at the three heads, I make an assumption, "The mythical guardian of Hell's gates, the three-headed dog, Cerburus. This won't be easy, will it?"

The beast growls loudly at my direction, trying to blast me down with fire initially, but it only causes the activation of my new ability, the flames being absorbed into my ear accessories. The creature noticing that I'm still alive, strikes with it's massive claws this time, nicking me across the arm, even as I dodged inside my spell at increased speed. For its size, it's fast, as to not wait until it strikes again, I pushed forward with my sword, coating the magic iron in mana, slicing at the beast's legs, but the damage was minimal. Repurposing the enemy's former attack, I convert it back into usable mana, putting my hand forward in front of one of its legs, increasing the density of mana in my hand until bursting out with a shout, **"Ice Spire!" **A large sharp icicle stems from the ground and through the beast's leg, courtesy of its own energy. Howling out in pain, and unable to free its leg, one of its heads lowers enough to attempt to bite me, but I see it coming quick enough to dodge it. The center head looks into my direction as the right one recovers from its attack, charging up magic in it's mouth. Noticing last second that it isn't fire, it releases a charged pulse of dark magic energy at me, I stand in the brunt of the attack, gaining multiple assortments of scrapes and cuts across my body. Along with this, the other head recovered enough to headbutt me into a boulder a few meters away. Albeit winded, I manage to climb out of the rock as it flings its tail at me, smashing the rock into smithereens. On my hands and knees, I stagger upwards, trying to recover from the latest combination attack.

Gritting my teeth with a half-opened eye, I notice the ice around the monster's leg begin to dissipate. Not wanting to risk it becoming free again, I struggle up to it once more, I fire a small fireball at each head, detonating them in front of the creature's eyes. Focusing my remaining energy into my last magic attack, I drop to a knee as my mana drains even more, but I don't lose focus, I have to slay this things here and now, there's no other heroes coming to save these people. Blanking slightly, I shake my head and shout after my lapse of thought, unleashing my most powerful conjuration, **"Snow Conjuration: Frost Dragon!" **My mana zone spell immediately dissipated, along with the ice spire holding down the beast's leg, but in the stead of that, the dragon took its place and landed onto the ground nearby.

The two creature's sizes are about evenly matched, but there is one last thing I have over the boss mob, flight. Clumsily, I begin to climb onto the dragon's back, taking up to the skies shortly after. My mana will only be able to hold out for 30 more seconds, so I need to end this quickly. Controlling the flight, I dodge the breath attacks the three-headed beast releases, bringing my ice wings to a point enough so that I can divebomb one of the heads. Swooping down, I angle the wings to slice at one of the heads, decapitating the left head, causing the creature to wail in agony. 15 seconds left, I land next to the rightmost head, clawing at its neck, leaving multiple slashes across, blood leaking from every one of them. 5 seconds left, I fly back up into the sky, releasing an ice blast onto the central head as it continues to cry in pain, forcing it into submission as it becomes frozen over, limping downwards in moments, defeated.

As soon as the action is completed, my dragon fades into speckles of snow, causing me to fall out of the sky in the mist. I look at my hand, it still outstretched, injured along with the rest of my body, and unable to move, my vision fading along with it. I land with a dull thud on the Wave Boss's corpse, sliding down to the bottom of its belly, leaning on it, unconscious and bloodied over, my armor in shambles and cloak tattered to shreds. My slime half, subconsciously and ambiently absorbing the beast, the dark skies once again filled by the calm night.

Coughing up water, a small child with animal-like ears, looks up the cliff she had fallen from, rushing to reach the top as soon as possible, running along the shore, looking for the village's staircase up. Along the way, she reminisces on the things that had happened over the past hour, constantly being taken back to the thought of her parents dying to a large beast. Tears welled in her eyes, but slowed down when she recalled the blinding light the cliff emitted, a person, small from her view, looking at her before looking back to the creature.

Upon reaching the top of the staircase, the little girl looked to her village, now in shambles and littered in flames, but saw a gathering at the cliff of where she was thrown off of. Headed over to the village in a rush, she sees more and more of her kind climb out of their houses and walk towards the gathering as well. The young girl just as curious, begins to run, trying to reach the gathering as soon as possible.

Glancing around the crowd of people, she notices how beaten up and broken everyone seems, but even so, they are still gathered together, with thankful faces, tears in many eyes. Meandering through the crowd, she gets a view of what everyone else had been seeing, tears unintentionally falling from her own eyes. There laid a blonde woman with pointed ears, leaning against the very beast that had trampled over everyone else. She was littered in injuries and caked in blood, many cracks and broken bits along her armor, and clothing ripped in every direction, but yet also appeared peaceful.

One of the likely few village clerics left, walked out towards the lady, quickly motioning for everyone to help her as she still appeared to be breathing, even if it was minimal. Many rushed to pick her up and take her to wherever the healer had been heading. Anyone else following in curiosity if she'll live or not.

The medic had given her one of the remaining potions she had, and started to wrap up the wounds in bandaging, uttering out how anyone with this many wounds is still alive. She suddenly slows down on the bandaging as she sees some of the minor cuts healing themselves over on their own, at a loss for words, she only says, "Amazing." Setting the woman inside some of the few houses standing, she calls out to everyone, mentioning to give her space.

Over the course of a week, rebuilding had started, but the girl was still unconscious, some began to become worried, but remained hopeful. The kids often visiting in the offtime they had, they likely thought of her as a hero. It didn't take long for news to spread that the wave had occurred in this area, but with the loss of the local lord, it was only a matter of time before something bad happened. As for the corpse of the three-headed creature, it had slowly been eaten away by the local slime on it, making clean up minimal.

The cleric had been waiting patiently for the woman to wake up, but upon the news of Melromarc forces heading into the village and striking down adults and taking away kids, she quickly requested anyone nearby to help move her patient. She was fully restored by this point, but with the lack of consciousness, they'd likely kill her, so they went to the nearby forest, dropping her off into a nearby tree with a small note of what had happened while she was out.

Groggily, I begin to open my eyes, glancing into the leaves at the sunlight peeking through, I slowly sit up, quickly noticing I'm in a tree. Hopping out of it, I see a small paper fly down to the ground, so in curiosity, I leaned over and picked it up, opening it. Reading it off in my head, it reads out as, _"Whenever it is that you wake up, we as a village, thank you for saving us from total annihilation in the First Wave. However, as you've been out for the past week or so, maybe longer by the time you read this, our lord has died and word has spread, we're no longer safe without his protection. Just today, as we took you out to the forest, Melromarc forces were pillaging our village, killing any and all adults and taking the children to a slaver's place if I had to guess. I can't say it'll be alright for them, but it's just how society works in this discriminatory country. So, if you have the chance, please, try to help those of our race that you can, I'm sure you've noticed how anyone non-human has been treated. But regardless of your choice, I still must thank you."_

I let out an aggravated sigh, setting the note inside my bag, "Slaves, huh? I can't say I can stop that on my own without causing a lot more issues at the moment, but if I run into any demi-humans, be assured I'll treat them well." Noticing a question popped up in my view, I read it out as a teleport back to my previous location. The fact that it asks me now is likely due to my unconsciousness, but either way, a convenient way back is well appreciated.

Popping up into a crowd of people, my presence practically goes unnoticed, disregarding a few people who looked at my trashed up armor. Scanning around, I quickly find myself in the shopping district, so I make haste to Erhard's shop for obvious reasons.

Considering it still had been early in the day, the shop was still quite empty, the man quickly notices my presence and looks to me in disbelief. Although, more so at my armor than my absence. He quickly asks, "What'd you get into lass? I can't think of any-" abruptly, he stops himself before continuing with, "The First Wave, that's what did it, isn't it?"

I nod and begin to off the pieces or armor, "Correct you are, how much for the repairs? I may not be able to pay it all off now, but rest assured that I will eventually."

Erhard shakes his head, "Nothing, the cost is nothing. Taking a look at you, I'm sure whatever it was you fought was price enough. How bad was it over there? The whole situation got the country by surprise after the king said we still had a month."

I scoff and emphasize, "Your first mistake was taking anything out of that man's mouth as truth. He surely did that to call it an excuse to summon the Four Cardinal Heroes now and all at once in this country. As for how was it over there? It was awful, hardly any of adventurers over there were equipped to deal with it, and almost none of the knights helped as they were struck with fear for their own lives."

The man questions, intrigued, "Yeah, he did summon the heroes the day after, in fact, I've met the Shield Hero already, a nice guy for the most part. Although, the kingdom seems to have put a nasty rumor on him already, so if you run into him, give him some slack. Where was the Wave even at anyways? The reports never mentioned it, some even sayin' it was a pretty insignificant location?"

I grit my teeth slightly at the thought, "This kingdom truly does have some problems with it, I'm sure of that now. As for the village that was so "insignificant," it was half destroyed by the time I got to fight the Wave's Boss. It was on a cliff by an ocean, if that rings any bells?"

The smith snaps his fingers, picking up my crate of gear along with it, "That sounds like the village called Rurorona Village, last I recall, it was home to a bunch of demi-humans." That said, he brings the crate of gear into the back room and returns quickly, stating, "Well, I'm glad it was all worked out and you didn't die, I would've lost a good long-time customer. I'd give the armor a few days, I should be able to fix it up, even in its current condition."

I give a thankful nod, asking, "By chance, do you think you could use any of the monster materials I gained from the beast to upgrade the armor? I'll pay for that part of course." He nodded and motions for me to follow him into the back room.

Walking into the room, I spotted a bunch of tools, a furnace, an anvil, and a few other smithery things I didn't know the names of. Erhard then went on to ask, "Show me what you got."

I comply and pull out some shards of Cerberus's fangs, a horn piece, and a few pelts of its fur, finally pulling out a monster core it had dropped as well. The smith looked on with surprise as to how much had been in the bag, but I sated his intrigue by quickly saying it was magic. Browsing through the collection of materials, he holds a satisfied grin, stating with a joy filled tone, "This'll be interesting to work with, all of these materials are in pretty good quality, how did you get all these good drops, I imagine there were a good deal of others helping to kill it."

I shook my head with a disappointed look, "No, I was the only one there. Trust me, I would've wished for more assistance, less people would've died that way, but they were all either dead or ran away."

Erhard's tone drops slightly, "Ah, I'm sorry to hear then. I'll make good use of the drops then, it'd be a shame to not put all of them to good use after all the work you put in to slay that thing. The service fee along with the upgrades will net you a cost around 3 gold pieces, but you can pay at your leisure, of course."

I nodded, headed back out into the main lobby, going for the door, but turn and ask just before exiting, "When is the next Wave supposed to occur? I was out for a while after the battle."

The smith rubs his hands with a towel and states, "Two weeks, and also, I'd recommend heading to a clothing shop across from here, they aren't exactly in the best shape either from the looks of it."

Exiting the shop, I head towards the suggested building he had referred me to, walking in on a girl with glasses, who looked to be more than sleep depraved. She quickly noticed my entrance a gasped at my current look, only saying, "No, no, that will not do. Come here, we have to get you some clothes."

I hold a sweat-dropped look, getting pulled around by the lady as she led me to some of her outfits, eventually coming across a teal colored miniskirt with black lining, almost forcibly having me try it on. Not wanting to be rude, I go along with the lady's quest to find me some better clothing. Sighing as I looked into a mirror, I actually perk up a little, quite content with how it looks, The orange miniskirt reached down towards my mid-thigh, but had cuts to prevent movement restriction, and along with the armlettes and leggings she had me put on, it didn't look too bad. The light orange matched well with my eyes, light hair color, and earrings, while the dark linings, belt, and leggings gave a good contrast. Although, similar to my armor, it showed a little much for cleavage, it was more comfortably set in this piece.

The clothing felt well put together, but worried about the cost, I asked the lady, "This is nice and all, but how much is it?"

The lady held a blank face before chuckling, saying, "This is one of the cheaper things I have, around 15 silver I'd say."

I hand her the sliver, glancing at my old cloak, I ask, "Any way you can dye this a similar color orange, merging the black into the end of it?"

She holds the cloak for a moment, quickly noticing it was enchanted, stating, "Yes, I can. I can see why you'd wanna keep it with the enchantment on it and all. I'd put the price of the dye around 3 silver. If you come by tomorrow, it should be done by then." I tip her the extra coins, attaching my sword back onto my waist with the belt, the blade resting between the opening in the skirt. Satisfied I leave the building in my new clothing, although I make sure to be careful of walking around too much, as I can't hide my face in my cloak anymore.

Looking back to the clothier's shop, I open my eyes to the fresh daylight, walking inside. I greet the owner, the woman handing me my new cloak, completely dyed over and repaired. Thanking her, I put it on, and I'm happy to say it matches well with my new aethstetic. FInished up at the clothing shop, I walk back towards Erhard's shop, to check in on progress.

Upon entering, I can hear him whistle, "Someone went and got new clothes I see, they look good. Came to check in on the armor's progress?"

I nodded, but watched him pull up a crate in surprise, asking, "I-is that my arm-"

He interjects, holding the chest piece up, "Yes, ma'am. I couldn't wait to start working on it, and before I knew it, I had already been in the flow of crunching it out."

I pick up the crate, stating, "A moment."

He chuckles, waving it off, "Of course."

Heading into the changing booth, I bring up the boots and grieves first, removing my uncomfortable shoes in their stead, the armor reaching up to my knee, only a few inches below the cutoff of my leggings. Next up, the breastplate, which easily fit, almost molding to my figure as I pulled it up to my breasts, reaching two or three inches above my belly. Satisfied with the snug fit, I finally put on the thin gauntlets, their form slightly expanding out midway through my arm's length, another snug fit. The sleeve-like armlets extend a few inches up my arm past the gauntlets, leaving me to glance over the fur lined armor, the practically black fur, going well with the black along my actual clothing. The main attraction being the purple monster gem in the upper center of the armor, right where my cleavage begins to show.

Pulling the cloth between me and the interior of shop aside, I walk out with confidence in how I look for the first time in a while. The smith regards my slight change in demeanor as well earned, explaining, "This look suits you alright, and with those materials you gave me, it should stay that way for a while. Those fangs helped increase the durability, as for the horn, those often do well to help with the snug feeling you probably felt when putting it on. The fur lining seems to conform to the opposite temperature around you, so you should be comfortable in most temperatures." He points to the gem, saying with a sense of pride, "And that, increases your defence a good deal, gives a high darkness resistance, minor increases to magic attack power, and autonomous repair, my personal favorite stat as you appear to like breaking your armor."

I rubbed the back of my head in slight embarrassment, "You're not wrong, sadly." Turning away towards the door, I ask the smith with a suddenly more serious tone, "Do you think our heroes are ready for the next Wave?"

Erhard shakes his head, "I believe the Shield Hero will be alright, but as for the rest of them, I'm not quite sure, I haven't heard much about them, no less seen them. If I had to guess, they're out leveling up their parties."

I glance into the man's eyes, stating, "I don't have room for guesses, if it is unknown as to how prepared they are, I will only assume it isn't enough. Should these Heroes fail to do their job, I will intervene."

He stands a little taken aback, mumbling, "Sheesh, I get it, I get it, no need to be scary. Just be careful."

I walk out of the smith's shop, truthfully calling out, "No promises."

Once again, the day had come, the timer appearing at the top of my view, counting down the minutes, however, I hadn't been alone in the church's square this time around. Leaning up against a wall, I glance around, trying to put a face to each Hero. The Shield Hero is easy enough to spot, one of the only people actually wielding a shield unsurprisingly, however his only companion also caught my eye, I felt as if I had seen her before. Moving on, I quickly notice each Hero had been holding out their weapon, almost like a way of bragging, idly chatting the timer away. Content with the surveillance, I disregard the rest of their parties, focusing on my own thoughts, awaiting the teleport.

Feeling a similar glow envelop me once more, I opened my eyes to a blood-red sky once again filled by multiple rifts. Monsters spewed out of every one of them, by the dozens from the look of it. Climbing to the top of a tree, I spectate each Hero, spotting their weapon's mana signature quite easily. Three Heroes went towards the boss, while the other went to a nearby village. Focusing in the general direction of the village, I only count two people with any mana signature, slightly frowning, _"They really left the smallest squad to the whole village, it's almost like the other ones completely disregarded the town." _

Coming closer to the town, I watch the Shield Hero climb up a tower, torch in hand. Curious, I watch carefully as he rings the tower's bell and draws in the monster's attention, dumping a liquid onto them as they pile up along the structure. Lighting the fluid on fire, the tower comes down, taking most of the monsters with it, leaving them to burn in a heap. Praising the strategic thoughts involved with this one, I watch him block multiple people from being cut to shreds, then assisted by his ally to finish the monster off. However, I hadn't noticed the arrival of local knights, who just launched a fire barrage onto the village, completely uncaring as to whether or not anyone was inside. Glancing towards the Shield Hero, he holds a defensive bubble around himself, leaving him unharmed. I grit my teeth in annoyance, likely feeling the same thoughts as the man down there himself. A small quarrel between the knights and the party quickly ends as more monsters approach, a few of the knights fleeing, but the others choosing to stay and support the Shield.

Detecting a spike in mana, I turn my head towards the other three, noticing the boss's signature begin to sway. Another spike of mana releases and the boss's signature begins to fade even faster. A final mana spike occurs, wiping out the boss's signature completely. I can only assume it to be a special move their Legendary Weapons came with, but it had gotten the job done, so I moved on from the thought. As the sky began to clear, a flash of yellow revealed the daylight once more. I watched the Heroes quickly disperse, going back into the direction of the kingdom, if I had to guess. The remaining Hero instead of heading back, sticking around the village a while longer. A few minutes pass and no prompt to teleport back appears, so I make haste to tail the other Heroes back to the kingdom, hopefully unnoticed.

Not reaching the kingdom until night had approached, I let out a sigh of relief as it appears the Heroes didn't notice me. They continued along towards the castle, whilst I split off and back into the church's square. Taking a moment to reflect the against the wall I had initially leaned against before the Wave, I end up taking a nap over actually reflecting.

Woken up by the large noises of people bustling around, I jump up, noticing it had still been in the dead of night however. Intrigued, I follow a few groups of people that seem to be headed towards a colosseum. Reaching a gate, a guard ferry's people through and into the stands, although he seems tired. Using this to my advantage, I wash through with the crowd and find a wall to stand against that still gives a good view of the field.

An announcer begins with, "The duel between the Spear Hero and Shield Hero will now commence. The only way the duel will end, is if one is either pinned or admits defeat." Each Hero respectively walks out from each side of the arena, already earning the Shield Hero murmurs of negativity. The announcer continues on, "Since this duel is in the presence of Melromarc's King and the Pope, thus it should be considered legitimate and official."

Hearing the names of the two come around, I put Naofumi with the Shield, and Motoyasu with the Spear. Shortly after this realization, the two begin to battle, so I watch carefully as to see where they are at. Quickly, it appears Naofumi has the upper hand, using superior strategy to fight off his inept combat ability. The Spear Hero only lets out a few power attacks infused with some mana, but even then, most of the attacks are blocked. Eventually catching the Spear in a combo, he ends up inside a shield cage of sorts, Naofumi audibly asking if the former gives up. Upon the cage's release, the Spear can be seen on his knees, much to the crowd's displeasure, many even calling him cheap. I can only smirk at the thought of the underdog taking the win, but just as Naofumi begins to throw a finishing attack, he's blown off his feet a few yards away. Aggravated, he gets up with a shout, but quickly leans to the side to avoid a spear thrust. Pushed back, Motoyasu charges a more intense attack, shouting, **"Lightning Spear!" **The attack plows into Naofumi, who didn't have a chance to try and block it, shortly falling to his knees and into the ground.

The crowd shouted in joy at the Spear's victory, although Naofumi had gotten up to argue, shouting, "You all saw Myne use her magic right? She interfered in the duel!"

The King disregarded the Shield's words, pointing to the Spear, "I will hear no arguments over the battle, you are the winner, Spear Hero."

A girl with violet hair walked out from the side of the field, greeting the Spear and walking over to the Shield with a few words that appeared to make him angry. The King also began to walk up to the Spear, flourishing the man with compliments about his battle. I muffled an angered sigh and grit my teeth at the King, I was beginning to reach a boiling point with the man.

The announcer once more grabs my attention, stating, "The girl enslaved by the cowardly Shield Hero, will now be set free, courtesy of the triumphant Spear Hero." More murmurs began to spread around about the Shield, wishing for him to disappear altogether. Glancing up at the girl that had been said to be enslaved, I glance up and notice she's gagged. I was three strikes from heading down there myself, and that was one of them.

The Shield Hero slams his weapon onto the ground, shouting, "I hate the Shield, get it off of me!" The man has begun to break, all the negativity is starting to eat him out, now on his hands and knees, his head touches the ground in defeat. The mana flow in the Shield itself starting to fluctuate violently, I mark it as strike two, it's starting to genuinely piss me off to see a man fall to this level.

A robed man had requested the girl's shirt be lowered to reveal a curse mark, thus putting holy water on it to dispel the magic. Shortly after that, she walked up to the Spear, slapping him and shouting, "You're a liar and a cheat, I never asked anyone to free me, I was with Naofumi by choice!"

The Spear went on to reply with, "Hold on a second, I thought he was abusing you-"

The demi-human quickly interjected, "Then, you obviously knew nothing about Naofumi, because he never once abused me and he never made me do anything I couldn't do. He only activated the curse when I was too scared to fight, he did it to protect both of us."

The other Hero slammed his spear into the ground, retaliating with, "That's the thing, nobody should have to be forced to fight."

The other girl only said this as a reply, "Naofumi can't attack, he needs someone to do it for him."

The spear scoffed and stated, "It doesn't have to be you."

She stepped forward, "We work as a team, and he let me rest when I was tired."

Stepping back, the Spear only says in disbelief, "No way, he's not that kind of guy."

Countering his argument almost immediately, she continued to pelt him down, "Then, you should think about this. Naofumi was ready and willing to help a sick, diseased slave, that was on the verge of death. He gave me food, healthy, nourishing food, anything I wanted. Not only that, he gave me valuable medicines and treated my illness." She then finished off by pointing into his face, "Are you capable of that?!" The third strike, a man with a comrade like that, forced into such a state of despair, I've had it. Walking down the stairs between the rows of people, I walk up to the railing and hop over, landing into the arena with all the attention focused on me. Even the argument between the girl and Hero abruptly stopped.

The King spoke out first, stating with a tone of authority, "And just who might you be, interrupting on these sacred grounds."

I look to the man with clear anger, a breeze catching my hood. . .

A/N: To be short, you stuck around this long, I appreciate it, regardless if you disliked it or not. As for updates, I'm unsure.


End file.
